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daniel robertson

This is it. The playoffs have returned to Toyota Stadium and tonight FC Dallas will host Vancouver Whitecaps FC in a winner-take-all wild card round matchup. Here are the 10 things to know before heading to Toyota Stadium tonight to scream your brains out:

2. Our honorary scarfer tonight is Dallas Stars center Rich Peverley! He's got a pretty amazing story, and we're super excited to have him. Join us at around 7:30 on the north concourse for the ceremony.

3. If we win tonight's match, we will host Seattle Sounders FC on Sunday night at 8:00PM in the first leg of the Western Conference semifinals. Stay tuned for a special ticket offer after tonight's game should we triumph.

4. Bring the kiddos out to tonight's match in their best halloween costumes. Toyota is sponsoring Trunk or Treat on the north concourse. Each of our Toyotas will have some candy in the trunk for the kids. We may even let adults have a piece or two if they ask nicely.

6. While parking is always free for everyone at Toyota Stadium, our Toyota drivers out there can enjoy FREE upgraded parking in the Camry Gold Lot tonight. The Camry Gold Lot is directly NW of the stadium adjacent to the Dr. Pink field.

8. The weather for tonight's match should be absolutely perfect. Forecasted temperature at kickoff is 70 degrees dropping down to 65 by the end of the match. It's gonna feel like fall.

9. If you can't make it to Toyota Stadium, tonight's match is live on Time Warner Cable Sports Channel 323 with Mark Followill & Kevin Hartman as well as 100.7FM with Steve Davis & 1270AM with Carlos Alvarado & Rafa Calderon.

FC Dallas and Vancouver Whitecaps FC have played three hard-fought games in 2014 and they’re going to go at it one more time on Wednesday night in the 2014 MLS Cup Playoff curtain-raiser, a do-or-die wild card round matchup. Let’s take a look back at the three matches they’ve played this season:

Vancouver Whitecaps FC 2, FC Dallas 2 – Sunday, July 27th BC Place

Raul in Vancouver

Goals from Michel and Blas Perez saw FC Dallas take a 2-1 lead into the halftime break, but a controversial second half PK from Pedro Morales earned a point for the Whitecaps.

This match will be remembered, however, for some heroics from goalkeeper Raul “Superman” Fernandez. The Peruvian made seven acrobatic saves denying Morales who had an incredible 12 shots on goal.

Oscar Pareja’s side extended the Whitecaps hoodoo in Frisco as two goals from Blas Perez sent Vancouver’s all-time record at Toyota Stadium to 0-5-0 with a 2-1 win for FCD.

Perez’s first goal was a spectacular, if perhaps accidental, effort from nearly the corner flag. His cross/shot looped over the head of goalkeeper David Ousted and straight into the goal sending the Budweiser Beer Garden into raptures.

Perez won it late for FC Dallas, hammering home a rebound in the 78th minute to earn all three points for FC Dallas, a huge home win that proved vital later in the season.

The Whitecaps earned their second-ever win over FC Dallas with a comprehensive 2-0 home win earlier this month. A five-minute double from Sebastian Fernandez in the first half was all the offense Vancouver needed as the Whitecaps were able to sit on the 2-0 lead for pretty much the entire match.

Despite having 24 crosses to Vancouver’s 5 and earning more shots, corners and possession, FCD was unable to seriously test Ousted in goal in this match.

A hard-fought match that saw 31 fouls committed, coaches from both sides were seen getting into a bit of a tiff at the final whistle adding a little extra spice to what should be an incredible match on Wednesday night at Toyota Stadium.

For those not familiar with the MLS Cup playoff format, the top five teams in each conference make the playoffs.

Fourth place hosts fifth place in a one-game wild card playoff with the winner playing the top seed in a two-leg semifinal while second will play third also in a two-leg playoff. The two-leg playoff rounds will feature home games at both stadiums and whoever has the highest combined score will advance. The lower seed will host the first game while the higher seed will host the second match.

The winners of the semifinals will play each other in a two-leg conference final and the winners of the conference finals will play in the one-game MLS Cup played at the home of the remaining team with the most points earned in the regular season.

Just two weekends remain in the MLS regular season. Can you believe it? FC Dallas clinched the playoffs with last week's heart-stopping win over Los Angeles and now they turn their sights to earning the #3 seed which would ensure not having to play in the 4th vs 5th wild card game. Here's the playoff breakdown:

The Sounders surprisingly fell to Vancouver at home, a result that puts their Supporters Shield aspirations very much in doubt. They end the season with back-to-back games against LA and will clinch the Shield with a win in either match.

The Galaxy lost their first game of the season after scoring first in a 2-1 loss at FCD on Sunday. It was really a missed opportunity with Seattle having lost earlier in the weekend. They'll host the Sounders on Sunday and need four points from their two games against Seattle to clinch the Shield.

Jeff Cassar's side stopped a slide with a much-needed win against San Jose at home on Saturday. They've got a tricky test at Portland on Friday night and need a win to keep off hard-charging FCD and stay in control of their own destiny in the race for the third seed.

FC Dallas got a huge win against Los Angeles that took a ton of pressure off Oscar Pareja's side. They need one point to clinch a home playoff game and could leapfrog RSL for the third spot, though they'll need to ensure three points against a Colorado team that hasn't won since July. **NOTE** The first tiebreaker is wins and FC Dallas currently has one more than RSL with 15, so a tie in the standings would see FCD jump RSL.

The Whitecaps scored another hugely impressive result winning at Seattle last weekend to stay above Portland for the final playoff spot. The Whitecaps have their toughest test left on Saturday with a tricky trip to San Jose. Two wins from their final two will ensure a playoff spot for Carl Robinson's side.

Caleb Porter's men easily dispatched San Jose 3-0 to keep pace with Vancouver for the final playoff spot. They have a tough test against RSL on Friday before finishing the season at FC Dallas. Things look pretty difficult for the Timbers when you compare schedules between the two sides but Porter's side has shown amazing resiliency.

FCD PLAYOFF SCENARIOS:

FC Dallas will clinch a home playoff game if:

-Vancouver fails to defeat San Jose

-FC Dallas wins or draws at Colorado

IF THE SEASON ENDED TODAY:

If there were no games left and we were looking forward to the start of the playoffs, here are the current matchups:

Last weekend, the FC Dallas U-16s traveled up to Kansas City for the first weekend of Generation adidas Cup qualifying, a tournament that matches up all the MLS U-16 academy teams against each other.

FC Dallas is paired in a six-team group with Houston, Kansas City, Chicago, Colorado and Columbus, and last weekend faced Houston and Columbus with three more matches coming in February. The top two teams from each group advance to the championship half of the bracket while the bottom four teams will advance to the consolation side of the Generation adidas Cup which will be held next spring.

Here's a rundown of the results from Kansas City:

FC Dallas 2, Houston Dynamo 0

Brandon Terwege & Toshiki Yasuda scored in the win over FCD's in-state rivals to open the weekend off strongly

FC Dallas 1, Columbus Crew 1 (FCD wins on PKs)

Giovanni Montesdeoca scored for FCD in the draw against Columbus. In GA Cup, draws go to a PK shootout with the winner earning an extra point.

FC Dallas 4, Sporting KC 1(Friendly match)

Damian Hernandez, Yasuda, Montesdeoca and Devin Vega scored in the friendly win over SKC. With only five opponents in each group, FCD played two qualifying matches & one friendly last weekend and on the next qualifying weekend will play three qualifying matches.

Up next:

All FC Dallas Academy teams from U-18 to U-13 travel south for a full round of matches against the Houston Dynamo on Saturday, October 18th.